Relax
(
verb) ree-laks
The latest Alpine
trend is seeing
skiers eschew
the slopes for a
massage. Where
better to do it
than the new
La Kaïla Hotel,
which opened
in Méribel this
winter, and
promises the
“
wow” factor,
with its 500m
2
spa, featuring
geysers, Turkish
baths and a
marine circuit?
lekaila.com
Queue
(
noun/verb) kyoo
Your skis are waxed. Your edges sharp.
Your boots are fitting just so. That first
run of your trip is so close you can taste
it. Well, just as soon as that tortuously
slow lift queue begins to move. The bane
of everybody's life during high season, it’s
particularly bad during the French holidays
in February, when most of Paris seems to
decamp to the Alps. Better to avoid those
weeks and choose the ‘shoulder season’,
late April or early January. If you can’t, learn
to love first lifts and eat at unusual times,
so you avoid the mainstream rhythms
and bottlenecks of the day – or choose
the less obvious resorts: Ste Foy in the
Tarentaise (nearest airport Geneva) instead
of Val d'Isere, Val Cenis (Grenoble) near
the Italian border or the Zillertal Valley
(
Innsbruck) instead of St Anton.
P
owder
(
noun) pow-der
Freshie, Champagne,
pow pow – whatever
you want to call it – this
light, fluffy, dry snow is preferred by the
most experienced skiers and boarders
because of the weightless feeling it gives
as you ‘float’ through it. Plus, it provides
a far softer landing if you tumble. It does
take some practice, with the trick being
to maintain speed and keep a slightly
backward stance to avoid sinking. Powder
junkies commonly head to Chamonix or
Alagna, but Erzurum, in eastern Turkey, is
considered to have some of the best.
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